UAE: Late on your phone bill payment? Avoid disconnection by understanding your billing cycle

Dubai: Forgot to pay your phone or home internet bill? It is important to set reminders or create auto payment options for these services, to ensure you do not end up losing the connection, or worse, have your credit rating negatively impacted.

Here is all you need to know about the billing cycle for your telecommunication services and how long you have to pay your bill, before services get disrupted.

Etisalat

Etisalat customers are required to pay the bill within 15 days from the time the bill is issued, which is the first of every month, according to a statement from the company.

“Customers are given a last due date as the 15th of the month on both mobile and e-life services. Therefore we give 15 days to our customers after the bill is issued to pay their dues,” the statement said.

What happens in case of non-payment?

If the bill is not settled within the time stipulated, the connection may get suspended.

“We expect our customers to always pay their bills on or before bill due date to avoid service interruption. Therefore if customer doesn’t pay his bill by 15th of the month then his connection can be suspended any time after the 15th. We always request our customers to pay their bills on or before the bill’s due date to avoid collection reminders, service interruption and impact on their credit profile with Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB),” the statement said.

Service disruption

If you fail to pay the bill within the 15-day time period and face service disruption, making the payment through any of the online channels – the ‘My Etisalat’ mobile app, website Etisalat.ae/quickpay or by dialing 125 from your Etisalat number – will help resumption of services.

“Services will be reconnected within two hours immediately once customer makes the full payment. It’s important that customers make full payment for reconnection and not partial payment. Partial Payments will not restore a suspended service,” the statement said.

“We are sharing the bills on the first of each month and customers are given a grace period of 15 days to settle their dues to enjoy uninterrupted service. We are encouraging our customers to maintain good payment history as payment information is being shared with the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) and not making the payments by the due date may affect their credit score with AECB and their banks. We also encourage our customers to opt for Etisalat ‘Auto Pay’ service for complete peace of mind and hassle free payments,” the statement said.

Auto-pay services allow customers to give standing instructions where the bill amount is deducted from the bank account or credit card linked with the customer’s telecommunications account. However, it is important to ensure that you track the payments and have sufficient balance at all times for the payments to be deducted automatically.

du

du customers have 21 days from the date the bill is generated to make the payment. This applies to both post-paid mobile lines and home connections, according to a statement from du.

What happens in case of non-payment?

After 21 days of non-payment from the bill’s issue date, the outgoing line is barred.

“Customers will receive multiple reminders by email or SMS to clear their bill during that time. If the customer does not pay the bill for 21 days, the line is suspended with no outgoing or incoming calls. If non-payment continues for 60 days after the suspension the line gets deactivated. During suspension and after deactivation, the customers will continue to receive collection calls. If amount remains unpaid, du can then proceed with legal action and also update credit bureau,” the statement said.

While there is no penalty for non-payment, which is added to the existing bill, it is always advisable to clear your payments to avoid disruption of services and a negative effect on your credit rating.

Service resumption

Once the customer pays the full amount due, the connection will resume within 24 hours.